A 14-year-old Autistic boy who went missing from his Queens, NY school may have drowned after running from a dog, the NY Post reports. Avonte Oquendo disappeared on Oct. 4 after walking away from the Riverview School in Long Island City. He was seen running from a dog in Hunter’s Point South Park, a short distance from his school. Police believe Avonte may have fallen into the East River after running from a dog. Avonte’s family said the mute boy was petrified of dogs and water.

A photo of a boy riding a NY subway train who was thought to be missing 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo has been identified. NYPD officers located the boy in the photo and determined he was not the missing autistic child who vanished after he walked out of his Queens, NY high school on Oct. 4.

“It was not Avonte. This person whose photo it was was in the precinct with his parents,” a police spokeswoman told the Daily News.

The photo, taken by an unidentified teenager on Tuesday, lifted hopes that Avonte was alive, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said he was “not hopeful” Avonte was still alive. Kelly later apologized to Avonte’s enraged family.

New York City police are investigating whether a sighting of a young boy riding a NY subway train is a missing autistic teen.

A teenager riding an E or F train on Tuesday told police he believed he saw 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo, who went missing one month ago from his school in Queens, NY.

The teen said he approached the boy and asked him, “Hey, are you Avonte?” But the boy did not respond. The unidentified teen had the presence of mind to snap a photo of the boy before he got off the train.

When shown the photo of the boy on the train, Avonte’s father said he wasn’t sure if the boy was Avonte, who is unable to speak.